Slugs
by LiKaTaSa
Summary: They were scared. Their meister, their friend, their savior was injured. Shot, ironically enough. Shot by the very men he saved them from. However, when there was no one else, they still had each other. (An 'origin' style story for Liz and Patti. Rated T for now, may be M in the future.)


They were scared. Their meister, their friend, their _savior_ was injured. Shot, ironically enough. Shot by the very men he saved them from.

Patti was being unbearably quiet, no tears, no nervous chatter. She was just sitting, staring at her feet, a small frown marring her child-like face and guilt burning in her light blue orbs.

Liz, on the other hand, _was_ crying. However, they weren't her usual heart-wrenching sobs. She was just as silent as the girl under her right arm, the tears cascading down her cheeks soundlessy and the guilt burning even brighter in her dull blue eyes.

They were going to lose Kid, one way or another. They were going to lose him.

The better of the two options would be if his father expelled them, sent them back to the streets where they belonged.

The one they were scared would happen would be his death. He could die and leave them all alone. And they'd be lucky if the big guy didn't kill them off too.

Although, if they were to be honest, if Kid was dead, they wanted to follow.

"Stand." Liz looked up to see Death Scythe standing in front of him. And not their friend, Soul. This was Spirit Albarn.

Liz normally would have defied the old pervert's demand, but her soul felt so broken she wasn't sure she had it in her. She nudged her sister gently and they stood up together.

Spirit regarded them coldly, "Follow me to the Death Room."

Liz spoke up before they started moving, "Is Kid okay?"

He didn't answer.

This made her head spin with concern, her heart pound with panic. She took a shaky breath and looked down at her sister, whose eyes were glazed over with unshed tears.

She'd never seen Patti this low before.

Liz kissed the side of her little sister's head and put her hand in Patti's, interlocking their fingers.

Together, they followed Spirit to the Death Room.

Together, they entered the newly-transformed interrogation room, all lights off except for a lamp at the table and a few lights around the mirror it faced. Even the clouds seemed to be missing.

Together, they sat at the table.

Because they did everything together. When there was no one else, they still had each other.

Patti kept her eyes trained on the new silver table. She'd never seen this table before, and she knew why. Because this was the table they used for bad guys. Only this table was usually down in the dungeons.

But Lord Death wanted to interrogate them personally.

It made sense. It was his son, it was Kiddo who'd gotten hurt.

To save Patti.

To save his _weapon_.

Patti furrowed her brows. That wasn't how it was supposed to work. The weapon keeps the meister safe, that's what they'd been taught.

Kid broke the rules.

_Kid_ broke the rules.

Patti squeezed her sister's hand. She needed her sister now. She needed her sister to be brave for her, to tell her Kid was fine, that this was a bad dream and they were going home soon to watch Animal Planet.

Liz couldn't tell her that, though. No matter how true she wanted it to be. She was a liar, but Patti was her blood and it would be low of her.

Spirit sat next to the table and gestured towards the darkness for Sid and Marie to step forward. Lord Death had requested their presence, as this was a touchy matter.

That was an understatement.

Sid and Marie took seats on either side of the mirror and Spirit stood up again. He grabbed the recorder they hadn't seen before and pressed record, setting it back down at the center of the table.

"Marie, would you?"

The blonde woman nodded solemnly and stood, turning towards the mirror. She pressed her finger against the glass and wrote quickly, then knocking lightly and taking a seat again.

The mirror didn't ring. Lord Death appeared instantly, like he'd been waiting next to his own mirror.

He probably had been.

Lord Death stepped forward and came through the glass as though it wasn't there. He looked down at his son's weapon partners who were unable to meet his dark gaze.

He wouldn't have that.

"Look at me." His voice wasn't cheery. It was his normal voice, gravelly and deep, intimidating and daunting.

Liz looked up first, almost instantly, ready to do anything to lower the chances of them being sent back to New York.

She then nudged her sister, not even glancing at her, knowing she was still staring at the table, lost in her thoughts.

Patti looked up timidly, almost as though scared of Lord Death, though she'd never expressed fear of him in the past.

The surrounding adults had watched the exchange calculatingly, forming opinions, deciphering their behavior.

Spirit broke the silence. "State your names for the record."

Liz, being the older sister, tried to speak for both of them. "Elizabeth Thompson and Patri-"

"State your _own_ names," Spirit clarified almost aggressively.

"Calm down, Death Scythe," Sid spoke calmly, arms crossed and almost relaxed-looking. "Speak for yourselves, girls."

Liz looked over at her sister who was discreetly glaring at Spirit for snapping at her family. "Patricia Thompson."

"State your ages."

"Eighteen."

"Seventeen."

Lord Death cleared his throat and everyone turned to him. He sighed, "This is getting us nowhere fast. Elizabeth, Patricia, tell us what happened."

Spirit crossed his arms and muttered, "I was _getting_ to that, sir."

"Not what's important right now, Spirit," Sid mumbled.

"This isn't an interrogation. I want to know what happened to my son," Lord Death declared, silencing the two men. He turned back to the Thompson sisters and gestured a gloved hand for them to begin.

Liz took a deep breath. "Well, I know who shot him."

"And who was it?" Marie asked gently.

"_Mark Harris__,_" Patti growled murderously, as her hand began to crush Liz's, who didn't feel a thing.

"How do you know him?" Spirit questioned, his tone dripping with suspicion and aggression.

"We don't know him," Patti mumbled out of habit.

Liz nudged her with her shoulder and glared at Spirit. "I know him. He's a mob leader from Brooklyn. When we were younger, I made the mistake of being noticed by him."

"S'not your fault, sis." Liz hushed Patti and turned to Lord Death.

"It's my fault. Not Patti's. He followed me here."

Lord Death ignored their defensiveness and questioned, "Why follow you here?"

Liz sighed. "I'll start from the beginning."

"The beginning?"

"All the way back to before we met Kid," Liz said.

"Why is this relevant?" Marie asked.

Lord Death, the master of relevant irrelevance, waved Marie off. "Just let them talk."

Liz thanked him silently and started, "It was fall, a month or so after our mom left us. Patti and I were staying in a building downtown, an abandoned, shitty, run-down two-story with holes in the walls and dead rats under the floor boards."

Marie gagged slightly.

Liz smirked humorlessly. "Exactly. Disgusting little fuckers.

"So it was fall. We were freezing to death. Some homeless brat stole our blanket while we were out scouring for food and it was too late to do anything. We didn't find any food either."

* * *

I was the one in charge of us, I needed to protect us. I was practically the mother I never had and Patti would only see me as. So, since Patti was shivering, I was playing her blanket, pulling her to me and rubbing my hands up and down her arms to make friction, brushing her hair with my fingers to comfort her.

"S-sis?" I looked down at Patti, who just looked so... _Liz glanced over at her sister and sighed at Patti's defeated slouch._ Pathetic. Her eyes were drooping with tiredness and her shaking was breaking up her words.

"Yeah, Patti?" I kept stroking her hair, beautifully soft hair inherited from our mom. I can't deny that. Our mom was the most beautiful whore in Brooklyn, and she passed that physical beauty down to Patti and I.

"C-can you t-tell me a story? I'm kinda s-sleepy..." Patti snuggled into me, seeking warmth and comfort from the only family she had left.

I smiled at her, but I was so mad. I was pissed off that our mother would even think of leaving such a beautiful family. "Sure, s-sis... There w-were two giraffes that l-lived in Africa, where i-it was really warm..."

Patti spoke up, like she usually did, "Where's Africa?"

Now, I'm not saying I was a genius, but I did go to school longer than Patti did. I had to stop going though, because things with my mom's business was getting out of hand and Patti needed a guardian. I was leaving her at home because getting to school was so dangerous. We could get mugged, ran over, shot, knifed, it was dangerous. So I left her at mom's place, because that was where mom usually wasn't. But then she started a new drug that made her feel fragile and 'familial' so she began to hang around home again, exposing Patti to a lot of shit.

"It's across the ocean, r-really far away. About five-thousand m-miles, I think."

Patti gasped in wonder, the child she was in awe of the long distance. "That's far."

I chuckled. "Yeah. So these giraffes were beautiful girls, sisters. They were so gorgeous and elegant, with long necks and shimmering fur. They were so beautiful, in fact, everyone hated them. Everyone wanted them to be gone because they were jealous."

"W-why?"

I shrugged. "Because l-life is unfair, and we n-needed a b-bad guy. So, one day, the y-younger sister wan-dered off while t-the older sister was napping, looking for c-company. She wanted a new friend. So she t-trotted off, really far until she found a gro-oup of really big, ugly g-giraffes, with necks o-only half as long a-as hers and fur the color of crap. S-she tried to befriend them, to play w-with them, but all they saw was green. They were jealo-ous of her beauty, they ha-ted their own cards, so they tried to hurt her, assert their authority. B-but before they could, the older sister showed up and broke all their necks in half, so-o their necks were just normal. They weren't giraffes a-anymore, because they lost the feature that marked them as o-one. No, these bad giraffe-s were asses. Donkeys. So they be-came ashamed, embarrassed and ran away. The li-little giraffe learned not to run off anymore, be-cause then she might meet mean giraffes l-like them."

"The end?"

I nodded.

Patti pushed herself against me, hugging me closer. "I like the o-older giraffe."

I smiled and kissed her forehead. "I like both giraffes."

She giggled and fell asleep, snoring loudly, and her snoring put me to sleep.

We were content, if that.

_"What does this have to do with anything?"_

* * *

Spirit was glaring at them, still not out of interrogation-mode, and aware of their shady past. They were good con-artists, he needed to be alert.

Liz rolled her eyes. "It has everything to do with it. We were living in poverty. Real poverty. We were desperate."

"And?" Spirit pressed.

"And it's why we did what we did," Patti spoke up. "Everything that's happened was because we were like that back then. We don't want to live like that again."

"Alright. Continue your story," Sid said, interrupting Spirit.

Liz turned to Patti, who'd placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'll tell a little bit."

"Okay. I can take over if it's too much," Liz said gently, combing a lock of hair behind her sister's ear.

* * *

I woke up the next morning, before big sis. I wanted to wake Liz up too, but I thought she stayed up after me and she had bags under her eyes, so I didn't.

Instead I just lifted her arm off of me and stood up, walking around, stretching. It was still kinda cold, but I wasn't shivering anymore which was nice.

While I was wandering around- I didn't leave the room because I was thinking about the story sis told me- I thought I saw something out of the window. So I walked over and looked out to see two guys wearing weird masks and suits and Mark Harris talking to them and pointing to the house. I recognized their mask, since there used to be one at mom's house, a trophy Liz used to keep.

_Liz scoffed silently. "Try a token of guilt."  
_

I kept watching them, I don't know why I didn't wake Liz right then, but I kept watching them. I guess I kinda wanted it not to be a problem. That they were just passing by.

But they weren't. They started to head in and I freaked out a little.

I rushed to big sis and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her, trying to wake her up so she could figure something out. I didn't know what to do, but she did. She always has a plan.

"Sis! Wake up! Liz!" I was a little scared. I didn't know what would happen if I couldn't wake her up...

_Liz stopped her sister right there. "Patti, I don't think you should tell this part."_

_Patti nodded, knowing that she wouldn't be able to recall it as well anyways. _

"Uhn... Patti?" I was disoriented, I didn't know what was happening, but there was a tone to Patti's voice that worried me. I was awake in a matter of seconds.

Once Patti realized it, she shoved her face into mine, trying to depict the extremity of the situation. "It's _them_!"

By 'them' Patti meant the mob. "Where?"

Patti pointed at the floor and I groaned. They came inside...

There were dangerous people in the building and I was gunless.

Shit.

"Patti, listen to me. We have to be very, very quiet." Patti pursed her lips and nodded, her light blue eyes dull with fear. I hated that look. It wasn't right on a little girl's face. _  
_

So, I tiptoed over to the door and pushed it open slightly, quietly. I peeked out and cursed my luck when I saw them climbing up the stairs. At least it was only three.

I took a breath, a plan forming in my mind, and turned to Patti. I signaled for her to stay put and Patti's eyes widened. She shook her head with a vigor and I frowned at her for being disagreeable. Patti then pointed at herself, me, and pressed her hands together.

My shoulders drooped. 'Together'.

We do everything like that.

But this was different. Patti could get hurt, and there was no way I was going to let that happen.

'No,' I mouthed, scared to alert the men.

Patti crossed her arms and stood up, looking awfully mature in her defiance.

I looked back through the door and my eyes widened when I saw one of the masked men heading towards the door. It was too late now. Whatever I did, Patti would be discovered.

I _wanted_ to burst out and run, making a commotion and lead them far from Patti, then lose them and come back so we could go find somewhere else to sleep.

But now...

_Patti interjected, "I wanted to use our weapon forms."_

_Liz nodded._

I turned back to Patti who was holding out her hand, her index finger and thumb flexed out. She then pointed to herself.

I shook my head forcefully. "No! Absolutely not!"

_Crap._

"IN HERE!" I'd given us away. I'd ruined everything.

I looked up at Patti who was giving me her 'no shit' look.

"You or me?"

I have no idea how Patti was able to be so calm. I was freaking out, I was still traumatized from the first man I'd shot and here was my sister, offering herself up without pause.

_Liz paused and looked down, losing herself in her guilt, thinking about how stupid she was in the past. _

_Patti touched her sister's arm gently and continued the tale,_

Liz sighed and I knew I won. We had to do this. There was no other way. "C'mere. I'll shoot."

I felt myself smile, grin. It kinda hurt, but I was excited. These bastards were messing with the wrong girls and there were going to get it.

I wanted to protect big sister just as much as she wanted to protect me. I would never let us get separated, especially because of those stupid mask-wearing donkeys.

So I shifted into my weapon form for the tenth time in my life, exactly ten. Liz caught me before I even started to fall again and that's when the door opened.

_Liz tapped her sister's shoulder and took over again, trying her hardest to spare her sister_.

Now, I didn't even know if I _could_ shoot Patti. I mean, sure, I've shot tons of guns, a SIG Pro semi-automatic, a blunderbuss, a M1903 Springfield, a Remington 1100, hell, I've even shot a Smith & Wesson revolver. Patti and I are Berettas 92FS, similar to M9s in appearance, but pretty different.

_"Get on with the story already." Spirit growled._

_Liz shot him another glare, wishing she could punch him in the face.  
_

When the door opened, Mark Harris stepped in. He's about five feet, with dark eyes and dark hair. He has teeth kind of like Soul's, but jagged and rotting, yellowing with the smokes he liked.

"Lizzie. I thought you'd be here." I aimed Patti at him quickly, ready to fire.

"_Mark._" I spat with an unrecognizable venom.

At least that was the name he went by. He'd spent six months already trying to get me to join the mob, after seeing me shoot one of his men. Like I said, my mom was a real druggie, I guess to help deal with the fact that she sold herself to the highest bidder on a daily basis. She'd forgotten to pay back a debt to Mark, so he sent one of his people to our old place. I'd just gotten home to see the guy holding my mom by the throat and Patti cowering in the kitchen. I moved fast, grabbed the gun from the side of the doorway that we hid for emergencies, and aimed it at the bastard. He chuckled and pulled out a gun from his pants and aimed it at my mom. I didn't blink, didn't react. I only inched closer to Patti. He noticed this, though, and changed his target from the whore to my sister.

I shot.

I hit him straight in the head.

I'd aimed for his head and killed him.

Mark had been in the hallway and came up right when I shot. He was impressed by my aim and lack of expression, but before he could say anything, I'd picked up Patti and ran past him while he was marveling. My mom threw a vase at him and followed us, knowing that I was her best bet at safety.

"Now, now. How about you put the gun down and we talk like civility? It's safer for you and your sister."

"How about no, jack ass." I cocked Patti once, unsure if that's what I was supposed to do with a human gun, but forced my posture and glare to scream confidence.

Like I said, I was used to guns, I was an expert, but this was way out of my league. I could _feel_ my sister's soul. I'd always felt like we were closer than most sisters due to circumstance, but this was different. I didn't need to read her mind, but I still could anyways, and all Patti was thinking was _break their necks_.

Did I need bullets?

I shook my head. That was silly. To load bullets into a human being was silly, even if they were shaped like a gun.

"Listen, _kid_. I've tried playing it nice, but a guy like me has limited patience. Not to mention I told my friend Al about you and he's psyched to meet you. He's a real classy guy, you'd love him."

My arm rose and I applied pressure to Patti's trigger. A violet blast left Patti's barrel and created a large hole in the ceiling in my attempt to intimidate the men in front of me.

I brought my hand back down and smiled at the giggles I heard in my head.

"I think the gun holds the power here, ass hat."

"Shame. I was hoping we wouldn't have to do this." He stepped back and the two men with him stepped forward, their knives unsheathed.

One of the meatheads slashed at me from the right and I jumped away just in time, my dingy old tank the only thing harmed by the steel.

**_Sis!_ **I looked down at Patti and saw her reflection in it. She looked scared and aggravated. **_Just shoot__ me!_**

The other meathead slashed at my left arm, but I twisted away and managed to aim the gun at his knife-wielding hand. I pressed her trigger again and the same violet blast from before hit the man's hand. He cursed and fell, cradling his hand, his knife forgotten a few feet away from him.

"YOU PUSSY, GET BACK UP. SHE'S NOT EVEN USING BULLETS!" Mark ordered angrily.

I shot again, startled by Mark, and shot straight through the injured man's chest. He yelled out in pain and turned into a strange black mass before unraveling and forming what I would come to recognize as a kishin egg.

It was red and bumpy, and looked a little appetizing, which disturbed me. It was kind of like a big raspberry that floated.

The other guy grabbed my right arm and twisted my wrist, forcing me to drop Patti with a yelp.

"Sis!" Patti had shifted back to her human form and was holding her hand out. I understood and shifted myself, launching my body at my sister's open hand. I was too scared, too drunk on adrenaline to realize completely what was happening. Patti caught me and grinned insanely at the attacker. "Nighty-night!"

She shot him in straight in the shoulder, probably unintentionally, and managed to keep him alive. He passed out from the pain and fell over.

I shifted back and caught Patti in weapon form with my left hand. I held her out in front of me, aiming towards Mark who looked disgusted and frightened. "You two are... monsters!"

I hoped that my hand wasn't shaking as visibly as it felt, and smirked. "You want to leave the easy way or the hard way?"

I wouldn't admit that I believed him.

His answer was apparent when he turned on his heel and left the scene, abandoning his living partner. I let go of Patti and sank to my knees in relief. I felt a hand on my back and turned to see Patti smiling at me, mirth filling her gorgeous blue orbs. "Good job sis! You were so cool!"

I smiled weakly. "Y-yeah, I guess I was, huh?"

My adrenaline rush began to dwindle down and I began to feel the cold of Brooklyn creep into my skin again. Patti eyed the unconscious man while I eyed the thing floating on the other side of the room.

What was it? Where did the guy go? Was he just... gone? Did I kill him?

No... I knew how that worked. When you kill someone, there's a body. There's blood. There's guilt.

None of that was present.

"We could take his jacket," Patti commented.

I turned to the unconscious guy and nodded. "Yeah. Let's do that. I'll search him for cash and the like, you go watch the window for Mark. We don't want to get caught by more of them."

Patti nodded and crawled over to the window while I pulled off the guy's jacket. I pulled it on; it was a little baggy, but warm since it was made of leather and had a faux-fur lining. There was also a tear in the shoulder, but barely any blood. Almost as though it'd been to thick to flow... Still, it was perfect for Patti. I continued to pat him down and smiled when I felt something in his front pocket. I pulled out a wad of cash, most likely from a recent deal.

I stuffed the cash in my jean pocket and checked the pockets of the jacket before I gave it to Patti. In left pocket was some more cash and a pack of cigarettes and in the other a lighter.

Curious.

I pulled them out and stuffed them in my own pockets before turning to Patti. She sensed my gaze and turned with a big smile. Because she's the optimist out of us.

"Ooh! That jacket looks nice on you, sis!" I chuckled and started to pull it off.

"It's yours, Patti. It'll look twice as good on you."

She frowned and snapped, making me freeze and stare at her. She looked a little pissed, oddly enough. "You listen here, Liz, and you listen good: That jacket is yours. You need to stop worrying so much about me and take care of yourself first! What if you get a cold and die? Then what do I do?"

I blinked once before bursting out into laughter. I pulled her to me and embraced her, pressing my cheek to the top of her head. "I love you sis, but seriously, sometimes I think there's something wrong with you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Patti," I pulled away and looked her in the eye, " it's my _job_ to take care of you. I like to see you happy and healthy. And trust me, I won't be going anywhere without you anytime soon. I'll keep the jacket if it matters that much to you, but know that you always come first, okay?"

Patti smiled a little, her cheeks flushing. "Okay, sis."

"Great. Now I got some cash, but we can count it later. Let's just get outta here."

Patti nodded and we linked arms as we made our way out of the building.

A block away, I pulled out the cash and leafed through the green bills in pleasure.

A hundred fifty total.

"We can buy food now, sis!" Patti said excitedly.

"Yeah we can! We can buy tons of things!" I replied in the same excitement. "Come on, let's go eat. I think it's time for a feast!"

* * *

I smiled as Patti stuffed her face.

Because Patti was _able_ to. We could _afford_ it.

Patti shoved another handful of fries into her mouth, humming with delight.

I sipped my water and picked up a single fry, and taking a single bite.

It tasted _good_. And not just because it was bad for me. Not just because it was junk food. Because it was mine and I _earned it_.

Well, I deserved it, anyways.

"Hey sis, what happens when we run out?" Patti asked innocently, not worried in the slightest, just curious.

I froze. No, we couldn't run out of money. Then it would be over again. This euphoria, this sense of freedom, of wealth, it would be gone.

No, Patti didn't deserve to be teased like this. To merely have a _taste_ of this... this... _life_.

I crushed the fry with my index and thumb. Patti looked on at me, curious as to how I would proceed.

"No, Patti. You're wrong."

Patti blinked and smiled. "What do you mean, sis?"

"We're not gonna run out. We'll never run out." I looked up at my sister with a warm smile. "Patti, you and I are going to take what's ours, what _should_ be ours."

Patti grinned. "We're gonna get more money?"

I nodded and leaned towards her. "We're gonna get what belongs to us."

Patti giggled. "I like that, sis."

"I know. You deserve to eat like this every night, sis." I put a hand over my sister's and smiled.

Patti smiled back, an adorable, innocent smile that I hoped would never fade.

I leaned back. "You done eating?"

Patti looked down at the wrappers of burgers, candy bars, fries. Yeah, we'd had a feast. One considered a feast by children.

Because that's all we were. A fourteen and thirteen year old on their own in the mean streets of Brooklyn, New York. We had the combined educations of an eighth grader and a fourth grader and the ability to turn into pistols. We were pretty, we were great actors, but we were only _children_.

"Yeah, I'm done eating."

I nodded and stood up. "Let's go, then. We have a hundred bucks left, let's see if we can get some clothes and maybe clean the ones we have on. Then we better look for a new place to stay."

_Patti interrupted Liz during a pause, wanting to voice something simply out of impulse._

I was excited. I was happy with her decision, because it was what was best for the both of us.

"M'kay!" I started to pick up the wrappers but Liz grabbed my wrist.

"What're you doing?"

I looked up at sis in confusion. I'd expected for Liz and I to continue taking money, to start taking what was ours, but now... I could tell she was thinking something new.

Something I didn't think I disagreed with.

"I was picking up our trash."

"Don't do that. It's not your job. Let someone else do it." I stared at Liz for a second then looked back at our mess. "It's for the lower people to clean up."

I blinked. We _were _the lower people.

"Not anymore. We're rising up, Patti. We're going to take over Brooklyn and shove it up Mark's ass," Liz stated coldly. She turned from me and pointed down the street. "Let's move on, sis."

I looked down at the trash again. Liz was right. This was for the lower people.

"M'kay." I turned on my heel and linked my arm with sis'. "Let's go, sis."

* * *

Liz seemed like she was close to drooling and her nose was pressed up to the glass. It looked kind of funny, but I agreed with what she was thinking.

Clothes were_ awesome_.

She looked down at the tear in her shirt and then to my own tank top. "Ick. We need some new clothes, Patti."

"You said that already, sis," I pointed out with a giggle.

Liz chuckled with me. "I know, but something tells me these'll cost too much for us. Especially if we want to buy new underwear."

I grinned maliciously, already knowing where this story was going. "So what are we going to do?"

"We're collecting taxes, my princess." Liz looked up and down the half-crowded streets then grabbed my hand. "C'mon."

"Okay!" Liz pulled me into the closest alley, literally two stores down since New York was full of them, and we ducked behind a stinky yellow dumpster.

Liz looked at me sternly. "I need you to follow the rules if we're going to do this, okay?"

I pursed my lips and nodded determinedly, trying to prove that I was serious. "I just want to help!"

Liz nodded with a brief smile. "I know you do, sis. Now, I'm going to be the only one mugging, okay? I've got more experience and I don't want you getting hurt. You're not going to shift back until I tell you, because I don't want anyone knowing what we are, okay?"

"Okay." I was a little caught off guard with the sudden news that I was going to be in weapon form, but that was okay, because I like being a gun. And I know it's the best way to help sis.

"If we get caught by the cops, I'm going to try to throw you as far as I can, you're gonna shift, and run." What? No! I opened my mouth to argue but Liz stopped me. "I need you to agree to this so I can work with ease."

Let Liz get caught alone? How could she expect me to agree with that? If Liz was going to get in trouble, I would too!

But then... she'd worry about me while we were mugging and be stiff and stuff.

Well, no harm in lying, right? "Okay."

"Now, I don't want you to worry. Just focus on being a pistol, okay?" I nodded, because I wasn't worried. Liz wouldn't get caught anyways, she's too smart and strong for that. Liz smiled and kissed my forehead. "Good. Now shift."

I did like sis said and she caught me easily. That's when we started looking for the right person, all the while hiding in the shadows.

"Jason, leave me alone!" Liz turned around at the yell and started walking the other way. We looked around the corner and there was a dead was two people, though, a boy a little older than big sis and a girl around Liz's age. The boy was holding the girl's arm tightly, and the girl looked like she was crying.

I didn't understand what was happening.

**_Sis, what's he doing to her?_**

_I don't know..._ Liz thought. "And I don't really care."

She stepped out from the shadows, holding me behind her. I was crazy aware of every move Liz made, but I could only kind of sense what was happening around us, besides what I could see from the barrel. It was almost like those, uh... infrared things. But instead of sensing body heat, I saw the shapes that Liz saw. I couldn't fill them in, but I saw the outlines, like in a coloring book. "Hey punk."

'Jason' turned, still holding the girl's wrist, and scowled at Liz. He had buck teeth and looked a little like a donkey. I don't know what color his hair was though, so it might have been the color of poo or maybe not. "Get outta here little girl, we want some privacy."

The girl was crying and begged Liz, "Run, please! Get an adult!"

"SHUT UP KARRIE." Jason yelled, tugging the girl's arm roughly. I didn't like him at all.

Karrie whimpered and I guess Liz made her choice. She strode forward, ready to collect taxes. "Back away from the girl."

He shoved Karrie away who stumbled and hit the wall, then fell against it. Why wasn't she leaving? I know I would have left, I would have gone to find my big sis. Where was her big sis?

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

He grabbed Liz's right wrist, the one one not holding me, and pulled her to him. I wanted to shift out and hit him, break his neck, but I kept my promise.

"Jesus, your breath stinks." I giggled a bit, because Liz isn't religious!

The boy wasn't expecting this, either, so he just said,"You're a little bitch aren't-"

She brought her knee up and hit him in the area between his legs. She must have done it real hard, because he stumbled back, leaning forward and cupping himself, cursing loudly. She walked forward and slammed my hilt on the back of the ass' head. He did have brown hair.

He was unconscious. She rolled him over with her foot and leaned down, patting his pockets down.

He was clean.

"Damn." She stood up and turned to Karrie who was staring at me in Liz's left hand. Liz lifted me and held my weapon form next to her face, and that's when Karrie realized she was caught. "What're you lookin' at?"

Karrie stood up and ran to Liz, collapsing at her feet. "Thank you so much!"

Liz glanced down at the body of Jason and frowned. I sensed some kind of hesitance, like there was something she didn't want to have to do. She put on an indifferent expression and looked down at Karrie. "My services ain't free you know."

Oh.

Karrie looked up in surprise. She scrambled up and brushed herself off. "O-of course, what can I do?"

Liz scratched her head with me to remind Karrie she had a gun. "Money."

Karrie nodded and started to pat her pockets until she found her wallet. She pulled out a few bills and handed them to Liz. "Th-this is all I have. Thank you so much, for saving me."

Liz took the bills in her right hand and started counting them. She made a pleased noise. "You a rich kid?"

Karrie shook her head. "No, It's just my birthday cash, I got it Sunday. Big family, more like."

Liz stuffed the eighty bucks in her jacket's pocket. "Thanks. Now scram."

Karrie nodded and started off, continuing her thanks as she left. Once she turned the corner, Liz threw me up into the air. "Go ahead, sis."

I shifted and landed on my knees next to the ass. I don't know why, but... I felt icky.

"Is he okay?" I turned back to Liz and her face looked weird, like hard. She nodded and I let out a breath.

That's good. He wasn't too much of a donkey. He looked like he could be part rabbit.

"Come on, Patti. We have things to buy, places to find." She sounded tired. So I stood up and walked over to her, wrapping an arm around her middle.

"Can we buy pretty things?"

"Sure Patti. You can have anything you want."

* * *

A/N: Okay. So. Intense.

So, I was doing a kind of origin story for Soul and Maka (I don't know what to call it) called Passing Time, and I was recently thinking about Liz and Patti's back story and how interesting it'd be to kind of, delve into that.

As you can tell, Liz has already killed people in the past, which is terrible, but that's how it is for her. She's trying to spare Patti, but at the same time isn't quite sure what to spare her from, so there are things that she's comfortable doing with Patti, for example: Mugging.

Kiddo hasn't entered yet, I'm really focusing on the sisters right now.

Obviously, not everything that's happening is being explained to the authorities, it's all cut down in real life. I'm fleshening it up for the readers, as the story within the story is the one we're focused on.

If anything's confusing you can either PM me or review! Both are much appreciated!

Thanks!


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